allaboutwebmarketing.com

I can’t think of a more common question or concern among both novice and experienced bloggers alike: what blogging platform should I choose? Aside from learning how to blog, it’s an almost universal concern.

And there is no definitive answer. All bloggers MUST own their URLs, but platform choice is largely dependent on the indivudal blogger’s needs. That said, I’ve compiled a list of pros and cons of the two main platform choices below.

Hosted Platforms

Hosted platforms refer to services whereby a service provider grants you access to their software, network connection, and hardware, and you create a blogging account to use on their service. With a hosted blog, you have access to an administrative panel for your blog, and that’s it.

Common hosted platforms include solutions like LiveJournal, TypePad, and Blogger.

Advantages of Hosted Platforms

• Economical: most are free; others (like TypePad) are offered with multiple price points
• Easy to get started: just create an account and then quickly  learn how to create blog posts
• Automatic updates: you don’t need to worry about keeping hosted software patched and upt-do-date.

Disadvantages of Hosted Platforms

• Inflexible: there are fewer personalization options with hosted platforms.
• Fewer design options: you typically only get to select from a limited number of standard designs, and you often can’t make updates to them
• Generic URL: some hosted platforms don’t offer the option to use your own URL
• Less control: you are at the mercy of the platform
• Migration issues: moving from some free hosted platforms results in a lot of effort and often the temporary loss of search engine rankings

Self-hosted Platforms

Self-hosted platforms consist of your own web hosting account with a data center, and the blogging software you install on the host’s server. With a self-hosted blog, you have access to an administrative panel for your blog, but you also have access to a server account and the blog software where you can do nigh anything.

Common self-hosted software includes Movable Type, Joomla, and WordPress.

Advantages of Self-hosted Platforms

• Design flexibility: you have full control over design and layout
• Great software: killer software is available on self-hosted platforms
• Custom URL: custom URL’s are common on self-hosted platforms
• Adaptability: as your needs change, so can your blog
• Easy migration: should you ever need to migrate to another platform or another server, moving is a snap

Disadvantages of Self-hosted Platforms

• Difficult setup: setup can sometimes be difficult, but this can be overcome with a good blogs how to
• Cost: while the blogging software is free, the hosting platform will cost you money
• Hosting issues: unless you choose a good host, you might have to suffer from down-time or poor support
• Upgrades: you will need to keep your software patched

Most of of my blogs are self-hosted, and it’s what I usually advise anyone looking to create a professional presence. There are too many advanatges to turn down, and you usually have the ability to host many domains and blogs on one account, lowering the cost per blog down to a small amount.